American showman Ben Shelton has joined in on condemning the host broadcaster of the Australian Open throughout a rare, unprompted deal with to finish his successful press convention.
After surviving a grinding four-set battle towards plucky Italian Lorenzo Sonego to guide his first semi-final look at Melbourne Park, the twenty first seed spoke out about “disrespectful” on-court interviews.
Shelton felt Channel 9 host Tony Jones’s now-infamous on-air sledge of Novak Djokovic was not only a “single occasion”.
“I’ve been somewhat bit shocked this week with how gamers have been handled by the broadcasters,” he mentioned.
“I’ve observed it with totally different folks, not simply myself.
“I observed it with Learner Tien in certainly one of his matches … when he beat (Daniil) Medvedev his post-match interview, I assumed it was type of embarrassing and disrespectful.”
After defeating Sonego, Shelton was requested concerning the prospect of dealing with world No.1 Jannik Sinner or Australian hero Alex de Minaur within the semi-finals and the group nearly actually being towards him.
“You guys can boo me, you’ll be able to throw stuff at my head, I perceive,” a grinning Shelton responded on the time.
However in the course of the takedown, he admitted taking offence to the query.
“There are some feedback which have been made to me in post-match interviews by a few totally different guys, whether or not it was, ‘Hey, (Gael) Monfils is sufficiently old to be your dad. Possibly he’s your dad’,” Shelton mentioned.
“Or at present on the court docket, ‘Hey, Ben, how does it really feel that regardless of who you play in your subsequent match, nobody goes to be cheering for you’?
“I imply, could also be true, however I simply don’t suppose the remark is respectful from a man I’ve by no means met earlier than in my life.
“I really feel like broadcasters needs to be serving to us develop our sport and assist these athletes who simply received matches on the most important stage take pleasure in certainly one of their largest moments.
“I really feel like there’s simply been numerous negativity.
“I believe that’s one thing that should change.”
Earlier, Shelton did not lose one other level after crashing into the promoting boards, getting up from the bottom by way of a push-up, throughout a rollercoaster fourth-set tiebreaker.
Shelton roared after securing the victory, then passionately celebrated with members of his field.
In Shelton’s second main semi-final, after beforehand making the final-four on the US Open in 2023, he’ll meet Sinner after the Italian star demolished de Minaur in lower than two hours.
Ranked 55, Sonego had beforehand by no means made it previous the fourth spherical at a grand slam.
Regardless of taking part in a wildcard and two qualifiers in three of his first 4 matches on the Open, Sonego threatened to take Shelton to a fifth and deciding set after dropping the primary two.
In a uncommon mid-match show of camaraderie, Shelton shook palms with Sonego on the finish after a rare level.
Sonego pulled off an unplayable backhand volley, diving to return an tried passing shot, with the ball spinning away from Shelton after bouncing to the opposite facet of the web.
© AAP
